


Clean Slate

by kazenezumi123, Whatsinthebasement



Series: Dirty Money [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: A little bit of fluff, Angst, M/M, Mystery, Prostitution, Tragedy, Underground Activities, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-07-06 00:10:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15874536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kazenezumi123/pseuds/kazenezumi123, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whatsinthebasement/pseuds/Whatsinthebasement
Summary: Although things have quieted down since the big showdown with the Akatsuki and Sasuke is freed from that tangled mess, scars remain. Living together with Naruto and having a fresh start with his boyfriend should be easy, but not when certain criminals remain on the loose, and not when past traumas threaten to tear them apart.





	1. Dollar Bet

Thanks to his unconventional upbringing, Sasuke was used to things being out of his control.

He knew what it felt like when things went off the rails or took a turn for the worse, and he knew the frustration of not being able to do anything about it. His life had never been predictable, nor had it been a considerably good one. However, it was the only life Sasuke had, and it seemed like it was changing again in a way he still couldn’t comprehend.

He had gotten stuck during a strange time in his life, and while it felt as though everything had flipped on its head and changed, some things had remained the same. It wasn’t something Sasuke could call stability, but it was the closest to comfort he’d ever had in his short life.

He never thought he’d find himself living a domestic life in the city of Konoha with a blonde idiot he begrudgingly considered his boyfriend. He certainly never believed he would be forced under police surveillance by the very people he had dreamed of murdering.

It took adjusting. A _hell of a lot_ of adjusting, but it was better than putting up with his past life. Anything would be better than that…right?

“Why are you making that face so early in the morning?”

Naruto’s voice brought Sasuke crashing back into reality. Back into the cozy bedroom, still dark considering the sun had yet to come up and shine through their windows. Despite the warmth in the room, Sasuke shivered under the sheets and almost melted into Naruto’s embrace. Almost. 

Naruto nuzzled closer, further tangling the sheets around them and buried his face in Sasuke’s collarbone, exhaling across his neck with a tired sigh.

He didn’t reply to Naruto’s question. He closed his eyes again and tried to organize his feelings for the millionth time and gave up mid-way. When did Naruto’s warmth shift from annoying to reassuring? What was the weight that lingered in the center of his chest?

He knew exactly what it was. He still couldn’t get over the anger and mistrust he held against Naruto, mostly because he didn’t have anyone else to direct it at. Even if Naruto apologized or kept his distance when asked, Sasuke still lashed out at him with a bitterness he didn’t know he had.

 _“I can’t trust you.”_ Sasuke remembered the words leaving his mouth, with no remorse or hesitation, and he had Naruto’s expression seared into his memory. Only so many people can cover up layers of pain and guilt in such a small amount of time; it was like flipping a switch on Naruto’s face. Despite the clear hurt Sasuke saw in his eyes, Naruto covered it up as if it were never there and had nodded in understanding.

That was one of the first times Sasuke regretted what had come out of his mouth. His words weren’t untrue, he didn't feel like Naruto told him the full-truth, no matter what the circumstances were. They walked around each other like they were on eggshells; they fought over little petty things that were deemed barely worth their time…but there were moments when it was calm and content and even fun for Sasuke, so when was he going to finally let it go?

Naruto had always been there for him. Even after the Akatsuki raid when he had treated him like shit, Naruto brought him back to his home, nursed him back to health and insisted that they stay together. Even after Sasuke had beaten him to nothing only to cut him down with every harsh word he knew, Naruto stayed. He was perceptive, overly caring, and too big of an idiot to just leave him alone. Especially on days like this.

 

Sasuke wordlessly slipped out of bed, shivering again when the cool air touched his naked skin. He stepped out of the bedroom and made his way to the bathroom, all the while trying to keep his breathing in slow, even breaths as he walked down the dark hallway. Naruto’s lingering touches were fading to the background while a newer, more intense feeling started to take its place, crawling over and under his skin like bugs or needles he couldn’t see. The annoying tingling in his skin made him want to peel it off, anything to stop the feeling from spreading to the rest of his body until he couldn’t take it anymore. It was an indescribable suffering that Sasuke had always experienced, but since he started living with Naruto he found it to be more and more often. He didn’t know what it meant. He never knew what to do.

He stepped into the shower and set it to scalding, knowing full well no matter how hot the water was it wouldn’t make the feeling go away. The feeling of strangers caressing his skin in the night, leaving marks and bruises there for the morning after. The inner disgust he had learned to swallow for years as he exposed himself to people he would never usually associate with, all for a wad of cash that wouldn’t even be his in the end.

His past left him feeling like he was permanently covered in a layer of grime and filth, yet no matter how hard he scrubbed at his skin it wouldn’t go away. The phantom touches and sour breaths in his ear wouldn’t leave his memory. Even if his skin was scrubbed red and raw, even when the water burned beyond what he could handle, Sasuke couldn’t wash his past down the drain like he wanted to.

Sasuke sank to the shower floor, letting the water run down his neck and back, and stared at the scab on his arm he had scratched open again. The faint line of blood ran down his arm and away with the water before swirling down the drain. Steam slowly filled the shower, fogging up the glass around him until he could no longer see outside of it; he felt a brief moment of peace when the feeling was suddenly overtaken by the sharp burn of the hot water bombarding his skin, and he wondered if this was the only way to escape his problems, even if it was for a few minutes.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat there under the burning spray of water, but eventually the water was shut off and a gentle hand pushed the wet hair out of his eyes.

 

“Let’s get you dried off, okay?” Naruto had put on sweats and wore an expression that Sasuke had grown sick of. The ‘I’m clearly worried about you but I don’t want you to feel bad’ half-assed smile felt patronizing and useless. Naruto was familiar with this kind of scene by now, and Sasuke hated it. He hated being the weak one and he hated Naruto’s raging hero complex.

“Don’t touch me.” He smacked Naruto’s hand away from him sharply, but he couldn’t find the strength to move away from him. He repeated the action when Naruto reached for him again. “Stay away from me.”

Naruto briefly disappeared before returning with a large blue towel. He carefully wrapped it around Sasuke’s shoulders and kneeled as if to pick him up off the floor.

“I said don’t touch me!” Sasuke exploded. He pushed Naruto back with a firm hand, attempting to shove him out the shower door, but the blonde didn’t fall over like he wanted. Naruto tightened his grip on Sasuke’s arm and hardened his gaze.

“Sasuke cut it out.”

“Just leave me alone.” Sasuke demanded and glared at Naruto’s hand. He could imagine the invisible germs and sickness moving to him instead and it made him want to gag. It wasn’t that he didn’t want Naruto to touch him.

He didn’t want to get Naruto dirty.

Why would someone like Naruto want to be with someone like him? It didn’t make sense. There had to be a motive for him to stay. Maybe there was some sort of appeal Sasuke couldn’t see within himself.

“Please, Naruto just stop.” Sasuke’s plea came out as a sob. He lowered his head and buried his face in the towel, cursing every possible bone in his own body at how pathetic he must look.

Naruto loosened his grip and slowly picked Sasuke off the floor, carrying him in his arms as if he weighed nothing.

“You’re clean Sasuke, there’s nothing on you.” Naruto murmured, as if he could read Sasuke’s mind. His words were reassuring, but to Sasuke they felt methodical. Almost robotic in the way Naruto said the same thing, every time, yet Sasuke still couldn’t see it as true.

Sasuke shut his mouth and let Naruto carry him back to the bedroom, quietly suffocating his tears in the soft fabric of his towel before Naruto could see them.

Days like this came more often than Sasuke cared to admit. Yet his episodes always ended the same way; Naruto would bring him back and hold him until he didn’t feel it anymore. The tingling and itch would fade away and leave him feeling normal again, but in his mind, he knew the feeling would always be there.

He wondered how much longer he was going to have to suffer from being in the prison of his own skin, and how the hell he was supposed to maintain whatever dignity he had left if he kept trying to wash it down the shower drain.

 

* * *

 

 

Sasuke clicked his tongue in annoyance as he crossed out yet another sentence in his notebook. In the past few weeks, he had filled it with names and places he knew were associated with the Akatsuki. He drew and connected lines between people who worked together, he circled events and crimes that happened even if he didn’t know who was associated with it. No matter how many times he wrote it out, Sasuke couldn’t make sense of Tobi—of Obito’s method of thinking. What was his goal? What was he trying to prove?

If he wanted Itachi and him dead, they would have died alongside their parents that day. They would have never been taken in, and certainly not trained the way that they were. He wondered if Itachi and his escape was detrimental to this master plan, or if they were even a part of it at all. 

There was just too much Sasuke didn’t know. The police and investigation unit didn’t seem to know either, but as time continued to pass, Sasuke grew more anxious. Someone was planning something. They wouldn’t even see it coming at this rate, and it might be too late when the remaining Akatsuki members decided to strike.

A small migraine began to throb behind Sasuke’s eyes. Overthinking was one of his talents, and lately it hadn’t given him anything productive or helpful; he almost considered contacting his brother to see if he had any ideas.

 

Sasuke’s thoughts scattered when the front door opened and Naruto stepped in. He had finally come back from his new job, which Sasuke argued wasn’t much different from his time as an agent. Naruto was currently undergoing police training and worked as a guard for his aunt Tsunade, the mayor, in the capitol building. To be fair, Naruto was too involved in the case to simply back out of it, and his position as the mayor’s guard helped him gather information they would otherwise be isolated from. The position still carried a heavy safety risk, but Naruto had been trained his entire life to survive dangerous environments, much like Sasuke himself.

The one thing Sasuke didn’t mind about Naruto’s new job was the uniform, and today Naruto came home wearing it loud and proud. Sasuke took in the way he filled it out; the pants, his broad shoulders, the holster and handcuffs tucked on his side…

“I’m back and I brought Chinese food!” Naruto sang happily before he caught Sasuke’s gaze. He took in Sasuke’s expression as he shut the door behind him and the smile threatened to fall off Naruto’s face when his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Why do you look like you’re going to pounce me? Were you that hungry?”

Sasuke slowly set the files down, all the while never breaking eye contact with Naruto and approached him in the doorway with a curious expression.

“You never come home in your uniform.” Sasuke traced his finger across the embroidered name tag on Naruto’s chest. He found it interesting that it read Uzumaki instead of Namikaze; it seemed Naruto was protecting his codename now instead of his real name, and Sasuke wondered why.

But now wasn’t the time to ask.

Naruto watched Sasuke in curiosity, big blue eyes widened in authentic surprise when Sasuke gave his ass a tight squeeze.

“Do you like it?” Naruto purred, his eyes narrowing into tiny slits that reminded Sasuke of a fox. It was one of Naruto’s mysterious facial expressions that was enough to make all the blood in his head pool in his groin instead. It felt as though Sasuke’s thought process short-circuited, leaving him staring back at Naruto in breathless arousal, his hands continuing to roam over Naruto’s clothes.

“Hn.” Was all Sasuke could manage, and his lips eagerly met Naruto’s when he leaned forward for a kiss.

He heard the brief rustling of a plastic bag when Naruto set the take-out food on the table before he felt the soft and soothing touch of Naruto’s hand running through the back of his hair. Sasuke quickly took over, pushing Naruto roughly against the wall and deepened the kiss with his tongue. Naruto humored him, smiling against the kiss as Sasuke unbuttoned the front of his shirt and fumbled with the clothing underneath.

Naruto hummed in appreciation when Sasuke’s hands brushed across his bare stomach, and his breath hitched when Sasuke cupped his groin.

“Hey the rice is gonna get cold…” Naruto protested as Sasuke unzipped his fly.

“We have a microwave.” Sasuke retorted and reached into Naruto’s pants to cup his growing erection in his hand. “So are you gonna handcuff me or?”

Naruto let out a low laugh, which only heightened Sasuke’s arousal.

“Don’t tell me that’s your new kink?” He tilted Sasuke’s chin and planted a perfect kiss before giving him a breathtaking smile. “Have you been bad? Looks like I might have to cuff you to the bed.”

Sasuke chewed on his lower lip and grabbed Naruto’s hand, dragging him out of the hallway and into the bedroom without another word. As they entered the room, Sasuke stripped down completely and turned to face Naruto with a suggestive smile.

His eyes roamed over Sasuke’s body in clear arousal. When Naruto moved to take off his clothes, Sasuke held up a hand to stop him. He kept his words blunt.

“I want you to fuck me in your uniform.”

Naruto’s face blushed a deep red.

“Y-you want me to…in this?” Naruto laughed and ran a hand through his hair, “is this like a roleplay?”

“Take it how you want.” Sasuke rummaged through the bedside drawer for the condoms and lube before positioning himself on the bed, looking at Naruto from between his legs.

“You coming?”

Naruto seemed to weigh his options for a few minutes before he moved closer to him. With a strong yank, Naruto pulled Sasuke back up into a kiss and wrapped a firm hand around his throbbing dick. Sasuke groaned in appreciation and buried his hand in Naruto’s hair as Naruto gave him a few firm pumps that left precum leaking down his shaft.

After a few minutes of heated kissing, Sasuke sank down and pulled out Naruto’s fully-hard erection, only to run his tongue along the length.

“I’ve always wanted to blow a man in uniform.” Sasuke winked at him before deep-throating him completely. Naruto’s high-pitched mewl was music to his ears as he bobbed his head in just the way Naruto liked, and he kept his tongue working overtime until the blonde was shaking and panting in front of him. Sasuke swirled his tongue over the head and massaged the base, memorizing Naruto’s moans and indulging the way Naruto would occasionally thrust down his throat.

Naruto gently pulled Sasuke’s head back before he flipped Sasuke around on his hands and knees while he kneeled behind him.

“Doggy style?” Sasuke groaned in disappointment, but it quickly turned into pleasure when Naruto thrust two slick fingers in. His groans got louder as those fingers hit a sensitive spot, just the way he liked it. He ducked his head and buried his hands in the sheets, shaking in anticipation. 

“Your favorite…” Naruto sounded distracted, his breathing fast and heavy as he positioned himself at Sasuke’s entrance. Sasuke only had a few seconds to tighten his grip in the comforter and brace himself before Naruto thrust in with the perfect amount of force Sasuke was craving. Naruto braced both hands on either side of Sasuke’s hips, fingers digging into his skin, and slammed into him again. Sasuke felt his body spasm as he came without warning all over the sheets below.

He heard Naruto snicker before he sped up the pace, leaving Sasuke a whimpering mess underneath him. In pure curiosity, Sasuke cast a gaze over his shoulder to see Naruto’s expression. Naruto lifted one hand to push his hair back and blew out a heavy breath as he thrust in again, catching Sasuke’s gaze. He gave him a playful smile before it turned stern and he directed Sasuke’s head away with a firm hand.

“Face front Uchiha.” He commanded.

Sasuke felt a tremor of satisfaction run through his body and he rested his elbows on the bed as he leaned back into every thrust Naruto gave him. Near the end, he found himself practically screaming Naruto’s name with every shockwave that slammed through his body. Naruto had leaned forward, resting most of his body weight on one hand near Sasuke’s side, and railed into him at an angle that left both of them groaning in satisfaction. After fighting his orgasm for so long, Sasuke finally let go, crying out as he came again underneath him. He heard Naruto groan behind him, and a final thrust signaled his orgasm.

Sasuke collapsed, barely minding the wetness underneath his stomach and tried to catch his breath. He dropped his face into the sheets, sighing in satisfaction as his muscles slowly began to relax. He heard rustling near him, which he assumed was Naruto stripping out of his uniform. He cracked an eye open to confirm his suspicion; Naruto tossed his uniform to the side of the room and approached Sasuke in his boxer-briefs.

“You hungry?” he asked.

Before Sasuke could open his mouth, his stomach growled somewhat angrily in response. 

Naruto snickered, lightly ruffled Sasuke’s hair, and left the bedroom. 

“You take a shower, and I’ll heat up the food!”

Sasuke snorted before getting up himself. He stripped the sheets off the bed before heading to the shower. As he fiddled with the temperature, he wondered what the difference was between friends with benefits and being in a relationship.

Considering that Sasuke didn’t have a romantic bone in his body, it was difficult for him to picture himself dating, yet somehow he had earned the title of boyfriend in Naruto’s mind. He didn’t reject the title either, and he wasn’t sure why he hadn’t aside from the fact that he just…didn’t want to. While the word ‘boyfriend’ made him feel tied down, it also made him feel like he had a purpose…and it gave him a reason to be around Naruto. Was it shallow? Perhaps on his part; Naruto seemed to genuinely care about him, and he often went out of his way to prove it.

So why did Sasuke continue to push him away?

Sasuke shook his head and stepped into the shower, forcing his thoughts back to the crevices of his mind for later.

 

* * *

 

 

Silence.

It was something Sasuke wasn’t quite used to yet.

When Naruto wasn’t home, which was _painfully_ often, Sasuke was forced to entertain himself in the empty apartment.

It wasn’t like Sasuke missed him. Absolutely not.

It was just strange not hearing the idiot’s voice shouting at him from a room away for toilet paper. Or bugging him if he ate yet.

Sasuke moved his coffee mug from side to side, watching the lukewarm liquid slosh up and down the sides. He continued to glance down at his phone, knowing full well that it was impossible he’d get a message. The only people who had his number were Naruto and Itachi. Naruto was always busy with work, and Itachi…well, was Itachi.

Considering the case surrounding Obito Uchicha, Sasuke had hit a wall. As frustrating as it was, Sasuke admitted that he wasn’t going anywhere. Every file relating to the case was protected by security so tight Sasuke wouldn’t dream about cracking into it. He had heard rumors that the person backing Konoha’s IT support had been cracking computers since they were four years old; Sasuke didn’t have the guts to test his hacking abilities and he certainly didn’t know anyone who was smart enough to do it for him.

He felt oddly…useless. 

It used to be easy doing what he wanted, whenever he wanted. Now he was back to zero. Actually, it felt worse than zero.

Considering he couldn’t even leave the fucking apartment without a permission slip. Sasuke knew his bodyguard, yes _bodyguard_ , was standing downstairs in the lobby waiting for either Naruto to return home or Sasuke to try and escape. So far the latter had happened twice.

Sasuke didn’t want to try again.

Case leads, nonexistent. Basic freedom, not here either. His social life had never existed in the first place, but it still sucked.

He considered spilling his coffee onto the floor to give him something to do. 

With a groan of annoyance, Sasuke dropped his head into his crossed arms and shut his eyes.

He was going to go insane. 

If every day was going to go this way…

Time seemed to drag on like this, and it only made him irritated. He itched for something to do, or somewhere to go…and it didn’t feel natural to sit and do nothing when his previous lifestyle had been so different.

  

 

He wasn’t sure when or how, but Sasuke drifted to sleep at the kitchen counter. He opened his eyes to the unlocking of the door and the jingling of Naruto’s keys. A few moments later, Naruto’s hands roamed through his hair. 

“I’m home.” Naruto cooed.

“Fucking finally.” Sasuke murmured before lifting his head and squinting into the bright light that now filled the apartment.

“My bad. This whole cop thing? Really time-consuming.” Naruto stripped out of his jacket and tossed it on the couch before directing Sasuke an ultra-white smile. “Forgive me?”

“Yeah yeah.” Sasuke rolled his eyes. He sat up a little straighter in his chair and hardened his expression. “Naruto we don’t need bodyguards. Why can’t I go outside?”

Naruto frowned, his eyebrows knitting together. “You can go outside. You just have to run it through—”

“No.” Sasuke interrupted. “I shouldn’t have to tell anybody where I’m going. What if I just want to go to the grocery store?”

“It’s for your own safety.”

“It’s an armed stalker.”

Naruto blew out a breath that sounded somewhat angry. 

“There’s nothing I can do about that, Sasuke.”

Sasuke pushed out of his seat and approached him. “Then help me dig more into the case! It’s been months and we haven’t gotten anywhere!”

“I’m not an agent anymore, remember? And I never had access to the case files in the first place!”

“I bet you know who runs the IT department.” Sasuke narrowed his eyes, “You know, don’t you?”

Naruto averted his gaze. Sasuke watched his jaw clench, then unclench.

“Seriously?!” Sasuke exploded, throwing his hands into the air. “It’s like you don’t want this case to be solved! Didn’t your fucking parents die because of this guy? Does it mean nothing to you that he’s free, probably committing the same crimes he’s done to us?!”

“Sasuke, you know that’s not true! I’m doing my best—”

“No you fucking aren’t! You aren’t doing shit!” Sasuke kicked over the garbage can between them as he felt the familiar, hot burning rage curling in the base of his stomach. It was wrong. So, so wrong. This wasn’t supposed to be directed at Naruto, this was—

“You sit back and you wait for others to do things for you! You’re so fucking passive it makes me sick!” Wrong. He shouldn’t be saying these things to him, especially when they weren’t true.

Naruto scowled, but remained silent. Maybe he was used to Sasuke’s shouting.

“My parents are dead because of the Akatsuki! My life was fucking ruined because of him! You were orphaned because of him! What more do you need? What the fuck are we waiting for?”

“There’s nothing we can do.” Naruto turned away and picked up his jacket from the side of the couch.

“Yes there is! You’re just too much of a coward to act on it! I hate this fucking town, I hate this fucking apartment, and I fucking hate y—”

Sasuke broke off mid shout when he finally looked at Naruto.

 

He really looked; his eyes focused on every last detail he could see with Naruto’s back turned to him. By _really_ seeing, Sasuke had just begun to realize that when he looked at Naruto, he may not have been truly looking at all. He failed to see past the surface layer that was always there. He failed to try to see what Naruto was truly feeling, simply because it was too much work. Too much effort.

Now, Sasuke could see the clear tension in his back muscles, the ever so slight shaking in his hands, and the way his head dropped lower than usual.

He realized Naruto was crying.

Silent tears, but he was breaking in front of him and desperately trying to hide it. Sasuke bit the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood and sucked in a breath to calm himself. 

He knew this was his fault.

Again.

It was always like this, but Sasuke never seemed to learn his lesson.

He could only watch as he caught his breath. Watch as Naruto wiped the tears from his eyes and left him wordlessly to go into the bedroom, the door slamming shut behind him. 

He had fucked up. 

Again.

  

 

 

Sasuke waited a few hours before trying to apologize. As he wasted time, he finished the six pack of beer Naruto had carelessly left in the fridge and binge ate two bags of potato chips.

Yes, Sasuke was a stress-eater.

He didn’t learn that until living with Naruto, and he began to think they should invest in a joint gym membership.

_If he even wants anything to do with me now._

Watching the clock tick on the wall wasn’t entertaining, nor was reading about how unhealthy potato chips are for the body. Maybe it was time for him to suck it up and admit that he was wrong. Very wrong.

Apologies were hard though.

Sasuke sighed, and when it came out a lot shakier than he expected, he dropped his face into his hands, waiting a few more minutes to gather himself.

 

He entered the bedroom without knocking. Was there even a point to knocking? The idiot would probably just ignore him anyway.

Naruto had situated himself in the center of the queen-sized bed, wrapped in the heavy comforter and facing the window opposite of the door. Despite the phone screen illuminating his features, Sasuke couldn’t make out Naruto’s expression in the dark reflection.

“Hey…” Sasuke began, “can we talk?”

He was met with excruciating silence.

“Nothing to talk about.” Naruto finally said back. Sharp. Dismissive. Done.

“I’m trying to apologize.” Sasuke explained, as if his motives weren’t being made clear.

“Are you?” Naruto’s tone didn’t make it sound like a question, but a sarcastic remark. Sasuke fought the urge to roll his eyes.

“Yes. I’m sorry for what I said and for yelling at you. I was out of line and I shouldn’t have said what I did. I didn’t mean it.”

He was met by silence. Naruto continued to scroll through his phone without looking at him.

Sasuke’s eye twitched. “Did you hear me?”

“Every word.” Naruto responded nonchalantly.

“Well?”

“Well, what Sasuke?” Naruto snapped back. “What do you want?”

Of course, Naruto had every right to be angry at him. Sasuke wasn’t used to hearing the bite in his words considering Naruto rarely got mad at him, so he couldn’t tell how angry Naruto actually was.

“Am I forgiven?”

“I have to think about it. In the meantime, can you just leave me alone?”

“No.” Sasuke dropped onto the edge of the bed and sighed. “It’s going to drive me crazy. Plus, I was thinking about making it up to you.”

“Making it up to me?”

Sasuke slowly pulled down the comforter, revealing Naruto’s T-shirt and exposed neck. He ran his fingers along the collar before teasingly pulling it up.

“I was going to let you have your way with me tonight.”

Before and as he said these words, Sasuke didn’t see anything wrong with them. However, as soon as the words left his lips, he could’ve sworn he heard Naruto’s patience break with an audible _snap_.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” In one moment, he was lying with his back to Sasuke. The next, he was sitting up and directing his full fury on him. “After all of this shit you’re trying to fuck with me?”

Sasuke was too taken aback to respond.

“No! No I don’t want to have my fucking way with you, what is wrong with you?! I said, leave me alone! What part of that don’t you understand?! Do you even understand how upset I am? Do you even care?”

Sasuke frowned. “Of course I care.”

“No you fucking don’t! You think all of your problems can be solved with sex! That’s not how the world works, Sasuke! Don’t fucking touch me.” Naruto turned his back to him once more, signaling the end of their interaction.

But Sasuke wasn’t done.

No way would he let that go. Who the fuck did he think he was? Naruto didn’t know a fucking thing about him, and if he wanted to sulk for the rest of night then fine. He was going to have to do it alone.

“If you’re going to be such an ass I’m just going to have to find someone else who’ll entertain me. Maybe sex is the only way I know how to solve my problems since I’m a _fucking prostitute and all_.” Sasuke angrily shot off the bed and yanked open the door. “I don’t need you to be satisfied either! There’s hundreds of people outside who would die to fuck me!”

Naruto didn’t spare him a glance. “Yeah I bet.”

Sasuke slammed the door behind him for extra measure and stormed to the doorway to put on his shoes.

Fuck him.

He had to be such a jackass about everything, it was ridiculous. Why couldn’t he just accept the fucking apology?!

A part of him wanted Naruto to come out of the room and stop him from going. Sasuke waited a few seconds at the door, but when it was clear Naruto wasn’t following him, he shut it behind him and ran down the apartment stairs. He completely ignored the officer standing duty for the night and ran from his shouts until they faded into the background of nightlife traffic.

He had only one destination in mind and that was the club a few blocks away. All he needed was booze and sex, and maybe, just maybe, he would start to feel less like shit and more like himself.

 

* * *

 

Five shots in, and Sasuke was feeling good. 

The lights were the perfect colors, the music wasn’t too shitty, and he had been dancing with the same guy all night. As picky as Sasuke was, he had to admit that this guy was a looker; it was just an unfortunate coincidence that he also happened to be blonde.

Sasuke was drunk enough to let it slide.

Unfortunately, he was also drunk enough to blurt out all of his frustrations to this attractive stranger, along with his perhaps-too-blunt “I want to get drunk and then fuck you” near the beginning of their meeting. The guy humored him, bought him drinks, and kept him in good spirits as they danced through their drunken stupors and forgot what time it was.

Before Sasuke knew it, they were maneuvering through the crowd and down a narrow hallway. At the very end was an emergency exit, and a few doors away was a private restroom. As soon as the door closed behind them, they were making out. The guy used an annoying amount of tongue, but Sasuke ignored it, forcing all his frustration into his libido. He tightened his grip in the blonde’s hair while he helped unzip his pants; he allowed himself to be propped up on the bathroom sink ledge and spread his legs for an easy position.

He tilted his head back and groaned as the blonde went down on him, taking him in throat-deep while stretching him out with his fingers. Despite the pleasure flooding through his veins, something was throwing Sasuke off. Maybe the movements were too different, the rhythm wasn’t perfect…but who was he to be picky?

In no time, Sasuke was moaning against the blonde’s shoulder as he fucked him—a little harder than he preferred. He winced and tightened his grip every time his head hit the mirror behind his head.

Something wasn’t right.

He couldn’t put his finger on it exactly, but everything was wrong. As reality began to dawn on him, Sasuke’s blood started to turn into ice.

_He’s not Naruto._

Duh, this had been painfully obvious from the beginning. He had just been stubborn, trying to fulfill some sick and twisted fantasy that Naruto would forgive him and take him back. And here he was, coming to a drunken realization that he was out doing the one thing he thought he had stopped doing.

Each thrust made Sasuke more and more disgusted. Every ounce of arousal he had felt before was long gone, and part of him felt as though he had gone numb. He couldn’t feel anything but the hot, burning anger in his stomach that made him feel like he was going to throw up.

“Stop.” Sasuke commanded suddenly and pushed away from the guy between his legs. “Just stop.”

“Why, what’s wrong?”

“I changed my mind, I don’t want to do this.” Sasuke replied sharply. “Move.”

“What do you mean you don’t want to do this? Isn’t it a little late?” Sasuke looked up into dark green eyes. Eyes full of lust that screamed danger. Eyes that gave off bad energy Sasuke couldn’t sense before.

This was going to be ugly.

Before Sasuke could say another word, the thrusts got harder. Faster. Then painful.

Trapped above the floor with a heavier man halting his movement, Sasuke began to panic as he realized his only option was to fight. He had to fight the raging disgust he was feeling towards the sweaty man over him and the disgust he had for his own body. He didn’t know if he could do it.

Somehow Sasuke had been used to this, and the thought alone made bile rise up in his throat. He needed to get out of here. He had to go home. He needed Naruto.

Sasuke rammed his elbow into the man’s nose, successfully knocking him back and away from him. Sasuke dropped to the floor, stumbled, and managed to pull his underwear on before launching into full fight mode.

He landed a few punches before the blonde managed to get a strategic kick to his stomach, forcing Sasuke to his knees and dry-heaving on the dirty ceramic floor.

“You put up quite a fight for a whore.” The blonde yanked back Sasuke’s head with a strong fist in his hair and Sasuke cried out in pain. “I didn’t even cum yet, can’t you behave?”

_Did I lose?_

It seemed that no matter how hard he fought back, it wasn’t enough. There was still a hand pulling down his underwear again. A hand muffling his mouth.

 

Yet, right when Sasuke began to shut down and give up, the door to the bathroom broke open and a scarier blonde charged into the room.

Sasuke looked on in absolute horror as Naruto nailed two strong blows and dragged the other guy out into the hall by the back of his shirt, their yells fading as they went out the emergency exit door. It took him a few seconds to snap out of it, pull on his pants with shaky hands, and stumble out into the now wet alley. The light drizzle overhead did nothing but make the alley look more ominous as Naruto railed on the man Sasuke had just been with.

The look in Naruto’s eyes made Sasuke freeze against the brick wall. It wasn’t anything he had ever seen before; raw hatred and anger and…panic reflected in that usual calm ocean blue and Sasuke felt wholly responsible. Naruto had seen it. He had seen his lowest point again, and this wasn’t anything he wanted Naruto to witness.

“You son of a bitch!” Naruto did everything but beat the guy into the asphalt. Blood mixed with the fallen rain ran down the sewer drains. The night hair was filled with the sounds of flesh hitting flesh until Sasuke couldn’t take it anymore.

“Naruto stop!” he shouted. “That’s enough! You did enough!!”

Naruto stopped, his blood-smeared fist raised mid-way through another hit. He looked at Sasuke from over his shoulder and back down at the man who was no longer moving.

“Jesus, did you kill him?” Sasuke took a tentative step forward, but Naruto pointed straight ahead. Towards the end of the alley and a pair of headlights.

“Get in the car.”

Sasuke stared back at him, dumbfounded. “What?”

“Get. In. The. Car.” Naruto told him, between his teeth, as he pulled out his cell phone. “Please.”

Sasuke quickly obeyed, running down the skinny alley to Naruto’s Camaro. He slowly slid into the passenger seat, fastened his seatbelt, and tried to breathe through his panic attack. Things were happening too quickly for him to process it, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to process it. Naruto was pissed. Beyond pissed. Not only had he attacked Naruto personally he was caught cheating on him? Was this still his fault?

No.

It couldn’t be. Sasuke knew what was right and what was wrong.

Was the man back there dead? Despite his similar build to Naruto, he didn’t stand a chance in either ability or brute force. What if Naruto got in trouble because of him?

Sasuke shut his eyes and massaged his temples with a groan. He had to stop thinking. He needed to stay calm.

When Sasuke had finally managed to get his hands to stop shaking so violently, Naruto jumped behind the wheel and then they were off, tires squealing as they fought for traction on the wet road.

It was unbearably quiet in the car without the radio on and neither of them speaking. Sasuke fought the urge to throw up, knowing full well it would be the end if he vomited on Naruto’s leather interior.

“Are you alright?” Naruto finally spoke, his voice thick and quiet.

“No.” Sasuke replied. “…How did you find me?”

“Our guard told me. Your phone has a tracker in it.” Naruto’s expression clouded over as they turned onto their street. “I was worried. So, I came.”

Sasuke didn’t care whether it was dark enough to hide the tears streaming down his face. It didn’t matter because he had given up. Enough was enough, he couldn’t take any more emotional prodding; luckily, Naruto had stopped speaking and led them silently back into the apartment. He didn’t say a word when Sasuke went straight for the shower, stripping out of his clothes in the hallway as he went. He didn’t say a word when Sasuke climbed into bed naked because his skin felt too gross to be touching clothes but also too gross to not be. He didn’t say anything about what he had seen or the man he had left in the alley. Naruto didn’t say anything else.

And Sasuke really wished he had.

 

* * *

 

  

The next day came just like any other, and Sasuke dreaded it the moment he opened his eyes. He wasn’t surprised to find the bed empty aside from him; he slowly sat up and blinked as his vision cleared and the pounding in his head became more pronounced.

He needed to stop drinking.

Sasuke remained silent, listening for any other movement in the apartment: a toilet flushing, the shower running, floorboards creaking, _anything_ to signal some sort of life around. After deducing that Naruto was gone, he hopped out of bed and tugged on his boxer-briefs before reaching for his phone.

He was surprised to see a message from Naruto in his inbox. It was brief, but it was there.

_Had some errands to take care of, be back tonight._

Sasuke sighed, dropping back onto the bed as a wave of dizziness hit him. That meant he had to wait until Naruto came home to figure this out. They needed to talk, not yell or shout at each other. Sasuke needed to formally apologize and give Naruto a firm answer.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t seriously considered their relationship. Sasuke admitted that he was defensive and proud, and that usually hindered productive conversations between them. Naruto liked to give lectures, and Sasuke wasn’t used to being told what to do without being threatened. He didn’t know how to figure out these emotions and show them the way he wanted to.

He wasn’t sure what love was, but he was pretty sure what he felt for Naruto was similar to it. It may be darker, or more twisted, but it wasn’t like Sasuke could love normally anymore. He vaguely remembered what it was like to be held by his mother, or the feeling of eating a warm meal at the dinner table with his family. That happiness had been stolen from him, and it left him angry, empty, and scared to love again. He had been acting on the assumption that Naruto knew that…or even felt the same way, but maybe it was something he needed to formally explain. He was tired of fighting and saying the wrong things. He didn’t want to let Naruto go, but he also didn’t feel healthy for him.

Sasuke just had to wait for tonight.

He did everything possible to distract himself in the meantime. He cooked, he did laundry, he looked up meditation and hotwiring videos on YouTube, hell he even mopped the floors to avoid thinking. Redirect his nervous energy…he could’ve sworn Itachi said something like that to him when he was younger, which was somewhat comical to him.

Redirect…

Sasuke wondered if he had been overlooking everything. Maybe his brother had been trying to watch over him in the only way he knew how. Even if that way was fucked up and an overall failure. Sasuke still hated him, but even that anger was starting to dwindle away. Hatred was everything Sasuke had lived for since his parents died, but what happened when he stopped feeling that too?

 

The front door opened around seven, right as the sun was beginning to set. Sasuke had spent the last of his time watching cooking shows on Naruto’s laptop, nearly fusing with the couch as he continued to slump farther into the seats.

Naruto walked in and paused at the doorway, keeping the door open with his hand.

“Will you come out with me?” Naruto asked, his expression unreadable.

Sasuke wordlessly shut the laptop and stood up. He didn’t bother asking why or where, nor did he hesitate walking out the apartment door.

Naruto led him quietly to his car parked outside. He gave a firm nod to the guard standing by, the same guard that watched Sasuke pass by with clear irritation and disapproval.

Sasuke returned the glare as he settled in the passenger seat and maintained eye contact until they pulled away. With the soft radio playing in the background, Naruto navigated them onto the highway at full speed.

 

“What did you do today?” Naruto finally broke the silence after nearly half an hour of driving.

Sasuke blinked; he had been on the brink of falling asleep. 

“Just…this and that.” Sasuke yawned. “I learned how to make risotto.”

Naruto’s expression clouded in confusion. “What the hell is risotto?”

“Never mind. What did you do?”

Naruto turned onto a road that tugged at Sasuke’s memory. As the trees parted way, Sasuke finally realized where they were headed.

“Just…this and that.” Naruto murmured. “Did a lot of thinking.”

“Me too.”

They both fell silent until Naruto pulled up into the lot. The same, nostalgic spot Sasuke remembered from what felt like ages ago. The city lights still lit up the city in the same, beautiful landscape, and the stars still took up the night sky. Sasuke forgot just how beautiful the stars were when he couldn’t see them out their apartment window.

The last time they came out here, Sasuke had been drunk out of his mind and took Naruto’s company for granted. It was also the spot of one of their first arguments. He remembered how fondly Naruto thought of this spot, and wondered what was currently going on in his head.

Naruto cut the engine and leaned back, blowing out a heavy breath.

Sasuke could feel his nerves returning. This was a talk they needed to have, but damn did Sasuke dread it.

“Last night…” Naruto started, but paused to swallow. “I didn’t…I should’ve done something more for you afterwards, but I didn’t know how. I was angry, and I was selfish…I’m sorry.”

Sasuke shook his head, a harsh laugh forcing its way out. “Why are you apologizing to me? I said all of that shit to you and went out with the intention to fuck somebody else. I got what I deserved.”

“Nobody,” Naruto nearly shouted, but he quickly composed himself and cleared his throat. “Listen Sasuke, okay? _Nobody_ deserves that. Nothing was your fault, and there is no reason for you to blame yourself.”

Sasuke blinked as the stinging behind his eyes grew. He knew Naruto was right, but he still felt wrong.

“I don’t hate you.”

Naruto turned to look at him.

“And you aren’t pathetic. Or weak. I shouldn’t have said any of that to you. I was just angry and frustrated because I can’t do anything, and I know you can’t either…I’m really sorry.”

“I forgive you.” Naruto nodded, a small smile making its appearance. “Of course I forgive you. I just wished we didn’t have to fight all the time.”

“Do you remember when you were caught by the Akatsuki?”

“Yeah, I try not to though.”

Sasuke cracked his knuckles one by one, focusing on the slight relief each pop gave him.

“When I left you in that room, you told me you would come back for me…and I didn’t want to believe you. I was so angry and full of hatred at the time, I thought I was fine with never seeing you again.” Sasuke dropped his head and took a shaky breath. “I thought I would be okay with you dying, but as I walked away, there was nothing I wanted to do more than turn back.”

He didn’t dare sneak a peek at Naruto’s expression.

“So even though I wanted to stop trusting you…I wanted to believe that you would actually come back for me.”

“I always keep my word.”

Sasuke let his tears fall, but he fought the urge to completely break down. He knew that; from the moment he met Naruto’s gaze in that interrogation room, he knew Naruto was telling the truth. He had been telling the truth ever since.

“I don’t want to lose you.” Sasuke’s voice cracked against his will.

Naruto took Sasuke’s hand in his own and gave it a tight squeeze. “You won’t lose me Sasuke, it’s ok—”

“I may not treat you like it, but I care about you. I just…I don’t know how to do it like you do.” Sasuke directed his scowl at their hands together. He felt like now was one of those moments when he said the magic words that took over every romantic film in history. The three words he wanted Naruto to know, but always managed to get lodged in the base of his throat. “I…I-“

“I know you’re trying, Sasuke it’s okay.” Naruto lightly lifted Sasuke’s chin with his finger to see his expression. Naruto’s eyes were full of understanding, warmth, and…acceptance. “I know what you’re trying to say.”

Naruto leaned across the gearshift to give Sasuke a light kiss that made him feel like everything was okay again. He could tangle his fingers in Naruto’s hair like he did before and focus on the feeling of their lips pressed together.

He could breathe.

“Sasuke?” Naruto pulled back once he felt the tears streaming across his fingers, which he used to desperately wipe the tears away from Sasuke’s cheeks. “Hey, what is it?”

Even if Sasuke wanted to, he couldn’t voice exactly what it was that set him off. Maybe it was everything, and maybe it was nothing. It was enough to make the pain constrict around his chest and leave him sobbing in Naruto’s hands. Naruto leaned closer, allowing Sasuke to drop his head against his shoulder and let it out. All of his overflowing emotions flooding out of him at once.

“I…was too late last night, wasn’t I?” Naruto’s voice shook as he stroked Sasuke’s back.

Sasuke moved his head from side to side, unable to respond as he continued to sob almost uncontrollably against Naruto’s shoulder. It wasn’t the matter of being too late, it was the fact that he came for him. There was no way he could properly convey that to him though. Just like Sasuke would feel regret for leaving the apartment the way he did, Naruto would feel guilt for not coming sooner. There was nothing either could do about it now, and that was the way it had to be.

Naruto’s voice was nearly as quiet and gentle as the night.

“I’ll always be here.”

Sasuke dropped his gaze to his hand. Their hands. Naruto tangling their fingers together now felt as natural as breathing, but he certainly remembered the time he’d always pull away. Naruto’s warmth…it was addicting to him, and he couldn’t help but gradually open up to him. He was finally starting to see this as something positive, and he wondered where he would end up following Naruto. Were they going to move away like Naruto always proposed to him? Could Sasuke actually start over with him?

“So…” Naruto cleared his throat before giving Sasuke’s hand a small, but nervous, squeeze.

“So…” Sasuke imitated him with a smirk. He was done crying, and he actually felt better now. With a strange sense of determination, Sasuke met Naruto’s worried gaze evenly. “I’ll be your boyfriend. Officially. Exclusively?”

Sasuke cocked his head to the side, unsure if that was what Naruto was looking for. He figured it was better to make it as clear as he could, but he highly doubted he would want to hook up with anyone else for a long, long time.

He expected Naruto to bounce up and down in his seat like an excited child. Instead, Naruto kept his stare serious and even, scanning every detail on Sasuke’s face as if he were looking for a trace of a lie.

_He doesn’t believe me?_

“I mean what I said Sasuke. When you need me, I’ll be here. You don’t have to hesitate to tell me when you’re in trouble.” Naruto nodded to himself before smiling. “No matter what, I’ll protect you.”

Sasuke snorted. “I’m not a princess.”

Naruto brushed the left side of Sasuke’s cheek with his hand before moving a few strands of hair from Sasuke’s eyes. The light touch was gentle, and it invited Sasuke to close his eyes and relax into the warm hand that now cupped his face. When Naruto spoke, it sounded like he was in awe.

“Well you’d be a pretty damn princess if you were.”

Instead of laughing, Sasuke sighed and kept his eyes closed. He focused on the rough texture of Naruto’s thumb as it brushed along his jawline, and he could faintly hear the music on the radio despite how low Naruto had turned it down.

“Naruto,” Sasuke paused, unsure of how to phrase his next sentence. “I want to be better, and I know there are a lot of parts of me that need work. Can you tell me what they are? I won’t get mad or anything.”

Sasuke was met with silence.

After a few seconds, Sasuke opened his eyes to see a new furrow in Naruto’s brow. His thumb had stopped moving, but he still held Sasuke’s face tenderly in his palm.

It was unclear whether Naruto planned to answer his question or not, and the longer the silence dragged out, the more uncomfortable Sasuke got. Hesitantly, he reached up to push his index finger against the crease in Naruto’s brow and lightly massaged it until it smoothed out.

“I’m annoyed because I don’t think that’s fair.” Naruto finally spoke, and his eyes appeared a bit sad. “There are hundreds, if not thousands of things that I love about you, but you want to hear the negatives?”

“I just want to know the parts I should change.”

“That’s the thing Sasuke. I don’t want you to change. I fell in love with you. The you I met in that casino those handful of months ago. The you that’s sitting in this car with me right now. Yeah, there are some parts I struggle with, but it’s so small compared to all the parts I love.”

Sasuke nodded, his eyes stinging again.

“I just want to be better. I want to improve, Naruto. And…I need you to do that. So please…anything would help me.”

Sasuke’s hand slipped to the corner of Naruto’s eye, catching a tear before it could fall. He could tell Naruto didn’t want to have this conversation, but Sasuke needed it. He had to know, because he couldn’t see all the faults within himself, and he didn’t want to hurt Naruto anymore.

After a few minutes of thinking, Naruto finally nodded to himself.

“I think the most important is empathy, but it’s difficult to develop that right away…it’s a skill you have to work on I guess. We can’t do anything about you being stubborn…”

Sasuke listened to Naruto speak. He listened to every word, and the way Naruto phrased them. Delicately, as if he were trying to navigate a landmine blindfolded. He was being so careful not to hurt Sasuke’s feelings, it was almost comical. Sasuke wondered if this was what Naruto meant to be “empathetic”. To watch his words and consider the feelings of the person he was talking to, even if it meant going way out of his way to do so.

 

He vaguely remembered the words of his mother; something along the typical line of “if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all”. 

Perhaps that was why Sasuke was such a silent child.

He never had many friends, and preferred to be by himself. He hated social interactions outside of his family and never found them worth his time. Once he was snatched from his comfortable life, he only drew farther into himself, kicking everyone and anything out of his heart to leave room for anger. In reality, Sasuke believed he had been craving human contact for a long time, but it wasn’t something that could be satisfied by sex. No, it was something deeper, something more complicated than he could understand back then. He wanted to feel… _wanted_ by someone else. Not for his body, but for all of him. Naruto had given him just that, and he pushed him away time and time again because he wasn’t ready. He wondered if now would be different.

Sasuke watched the words form on Naruto’s mouth, but everything became oddly silent. He wondered if this was what an epiphany felt like; when the world goes quiet as the mind reels backwards, trying to connect the things that were missing. He felt an unusual sense of bliss as he realized that he was happy; sitting in a car that he had grown to like, talking with the closest person to his heart. Perhaps it was time Sasuke stopped looking so hard for something that had been right in front of him all along.

“Oi, Sasuke, are you even listening to me? You should’ve hit me a long time ago!”

Sasuke smiled, and for the first time, it stretched his cheeks to the point that they hurt.

 

“Every word.”

 


	2. Black Book

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite vowing to work together towards a better future, Sasuke has had it with Naruto. Domestic life with him? Not. Going. Well. Luckily, or perhaps unfortunately, they have a party to attend which should take their minds off things…

Unbelievable. 

Sasuke had been trying, really trying, for the past few weeks to cut Naruto some slack. As many times as he wanted to snap and call him out on his usual bullshit, Sasuke stayed quiet and waited for things to blow over. Normally, the issue would pass and be resolved without him saying a single thing. Laundry needed to be folded? Fine, it would get done. Just…a week or two later after Sasuke asked. He could easily do it himself, but that wasn’t the point. If he was going to live with Naruto, they were going to coexist. Fairly.

Through their time living together, Sasuke started to feel a strange form of adoration for his boyfriend. Strange in that it was less of a ‘mutual love’ adoration and more of a ‘wow the idiot is really capable of that?’ adoration. Childlike wasn’t even enough to describe Naruto; he was a functional adult but barely able to survive on his own.

This time, it was too much. He couldn’t let this slide, again, without freaking out; seriously, Naruto was going to give him a stroke.

“NARUTO!” Sasuke roared, knowing full well his voice would echo through the entire apartment. He smacked his head against the kitchen pillar and stared at the carnage in front of him.

“…yes?” came Naruto’s tentative reply. He peeked his head out from the hallway and gave Sasuke a meek smile. “What can I do for you, darling?”

“Cut the bullshit and come here.” Sasuke straightened up and directed his scowl at Naruto as he approached him.

“How many times have I asked you to wash these dishes?” Sasuke gestured to the mountain of dishes in the sink. It had gotten to the point where glasses teetered at the top, and bowls were strewn across the counters with old food crusted in them. Every. Single. One.

Naruto dropped his head in shame. “A lot.”

“How many times?”

“Like…seven.”

Sasuke took a deep breath, focusing on not raising his voice more than necessary.

“And how long have the dishes been here for?”

Naruto finally looked at the mess and sighed. He scooted around Sasuke to take his place at the sink and turned the water on.

“I got it, I got it. I’ll do it right now, don’t worry.”

Sasuke crossed his arms and watched, making sure Naruto properly scrubbed the plate and didn’t just run hot water over them like last time. He almost felt bad lecturing him like a kid, but otherwise nothing would ever get done. Sasuke couldn’t tell if it was endearing or just a hindrance.

“Thanks, _babe_.” Sasuke cooed as he walked away.

“Sauce, wait.”

Sasuke’s eye twitched at the nickname.

“What did I say about-”

“Look, so there’s this thing next week,” Naruto ignored Sasuke’s protest and launched into whatever seemed to warrant more attention than washing the dishes, “the mayor is hosting a banquet for the big-name donors and high-ranking families. The entire task force and police force are attending including a bunch of others. Basically it’s a giant gathering in the Capitol Building.”

Sasuke frowned at the lack of dish-washing. “Sounds like a bad idea.”

“She’s doing it on purpose though. If the Akatsuki is looking for an opening, there it is! If they don’t want to make a move, then fine we’ll eat and drink until we pass out!”

The idea wasn’t entirely ridiculous, but Sasuke didn’t like it. It was obviously a trap, even if they were purposely staging it to look that way to have fun, there was no way the Akatsuki would show up. Police, the mayor, the task force, Naruto, Sasuke, all in one place?

It was tempting, but they weren’t _that_ stupid.

“Okay, so? What’s your point?” Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Naruto’s expectant gaze. What was he trying to say? He certainly couldn’t be looking for his approval.

“Well it’s a fundraiser and booby trap, so naturally we both have to be there.” Naruto dried off his hands and came closer with a smile. He pulled a card out from his pants’ pocket and waved it between them before putting it in Sasuke’s hand. “It’ll be fun!”

Sasuke skimmed through the invitation, which was written in a hideous cursive hand, and unnecessarily embroidered with gold lettering and decorations. As soon as he read it, he handed it back.

“Not interested.”

“Come on, babe it will be fun!”

Sasuke turned away, but Naruto lightly pulled him back by his wrist.

“No it won’t.” Sasuke shook his head. What would he benefit from being in the heart of Konoha for a fucking banquet? Had Naruto officially lost his mind?

“Please, this could be our chance! I’ll do anything if you go!”

Sasuke considered his final ‘no’, latching on to Naruto’s fatal mistake.

“You’ll do anything?” Sasuke slowly turned around to give Naruto an angelic smile. His boyfriend visibly flinched, realizing where he had gone wrong. There was no going back now, and Naruto knew it.

“Yeah, anything.”

“Fine, I’ll hold you to it. I’ll let you know when I want to take you up on that promise, but for now finish the dishes.” Sasuke yanked his hand out of Naruto’s grip and retreated to the bedroom. “And the dishes better be spotless!” He called over his shoulder.

 

* * *

  

Sasuke frowned when he heard a pair of footsteps come up to the bathroom door.

“Hey, come out here so I can see you.”

Instead of stepping out right away, Sasuke examined himself in the mirror again for what may have been the hundredth time in a span of an hour. He knew all eyes were going to be on him tonight, and not in a good way. He didn’t know what his image was supposed to look like. Tonight was already beginning to feel like a mistake, but Sasuke wasn’t one to back down from a deal. As much as he wanted to tear out of his suit and tie, he knew that tonight was going to be a make it or break it type of situation.

He opened the door, revealing Naruto in a well-fitted tuxedo that made Sasuke’s heart skip. The blonde had somehow gotten his locks controlled and styled enough to look acceptable for a high-class outing. Sasuke resorted to slicking his hair back to keep it out of his face, and judging by the reaction he got from Naruto, it seemed to be a bigger move than he thought it was.

“Woah…” Naruto approached him slowly, his eyes taking in Sasuke’s appearance. “You’re hot.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Are you implying that I’m not usually hot?”

Naruto hummed in amusement, and Sasuke couldn’t tell if it was a negative or an affirmative. His hands ran over Sasuke’s glossy hair before cupping Sasuke’s chin to pull him into a light kiss.

“We’re going to be tonight’s power couple.”

“Oh really?” Sasuke prayed Naruto couldn’t see the slight fear he had towards the idea of going to the capitol. There was nothing Sasuke hated more than being judged. Especially by people who had no right to do so.

“I already want to take this off you, but we have to go.” Naruto adjusted Sasuke’s tie with a rueful expression. “Best behavior tonight, understand?”

“Whatever.” Sasuke stepped aside and out of the bathroom to get away from him. “Let’s just get this over with.”

The two gathered their things before leaving the apartment. As soon as they stepped out of the lobby, a sleek black limousine pulled up out front.

Sasuke flinched at the sight of it. Limos only brought back memories of old rich and sweaty men who thought they could pay any price to get what they wanted. Nothing good came out of being in one of those cars and it gave Sasuke chills imagining being in one again.

“That old lady is definitely trying to get something out of me.” Naruto muttered under his breath. He extended an arm to Sasuke and led him to the car as the driver opened the doors for them.

After a beat of hesitation, Sasuke slid into the limo with Naruto right beside him. He knew that tonight was going to be a generally unpleasant experience for him, and he was ready for that. At least, Sasuke thought he was.

He let out a long breath and leaned back against the nice leather seats. He kept both hands on his knees, focusing on squeezing and letting go as they got closer to the establishment. As they got nearer, Naruto’s hand dropped to Sasuke’s thigh to give it a firm squeeze of encouragement. They shared a look before getting out the car and approaching the massive staircase leading to the main capitol building in the square.

Couples dressed similarly to them ascended the staircase while cameramen flashed photos of others whom Sasuke assumed to be of high status. Everyone here had to be famous in some way, but it didn’t feel that exclusive to him. Naruto led Sasuke up the stairs with confidence, some sort of strong inner light emanated from his bright blue eyes and it made Sasuke want to follow him, even if it was through the depths of hell itself.

Naruto presented the invitation to the security members at the door, who then waved them in to the grand lobby area. They were suddenly engulfed in dozens of different conversations around them, most people stood around with a cocktail in their hand and chatted idly against the walls while others went into the banquet area.

Sasuke tried not to look too impressed as he took in the architecture of the building. The high ceilings had intricate carvings and historical murals across them that had to cost a fortune. Of course, Sasuke had never been in the capitol before and he never knew how extravagant Konoha kept their government buildings.

As Naruto guided them through the crowds, Sasuke noticed the sudden shift in the surrounding conversations. Eyes followed them across the floor while their voices turned to whispers that Sasuke could vaguely make out from a distance.

What else could he expect from his first public appearance? The kidnapped child from an extravagant family who had been raised by a criminal organization was suddenly in a place like this? Sasuke was surprised about it too.

“Don’t pay any mind to them Sasuke, wealthy people live for gossip.” Naruto fell into step beside Sasuke and sighed. “If you listen carefully, you’ll hear them talking about me too.”

Sasuke cast him a curious glance before dropping his gaze. Surely Naruto must have gotten his fair share of exposure to this considering he was raised around the capitol itself. The guests were going to have a lot to talk about tonight for sure.

 

 

They entered the banquet room and stood near the back where random appetizers and drink stations had been set up on long sleek tables. Guests were offered trays of different foods and drinks by waiters while others roamed around the room looking for their designated seating areas.

Sasuke swallowed a lump of dread as he followed Naruto around the room until they found their name plates, side by side on a table near the middle of the room and close to the stage that had been set up with a podium.

As they were about to sit down, a tall man approached Naruto and gave him a light bump on the shoulder.

“Hey man, glad you could make it.”

“Oh Shikamaru!” Naruto playfully bumped him back and smiled. “Where is everyone?”

“Kakashi’s debriefing and they scattered us around a few tables in here. I’ll be sitting with you two though.” Shikamaru scratched the back of his head and sighed. “Tonight’s gonna be a drag.”

“Sasuke, this is Shikamaru. He’s basically the brains of the Task Force!”

“Nice to formally meet you.” Shikamaru offered his hand. After seeing no signs of ill-intent in Shikamaru’s eyes, Sasuke returned the favor and gave a tight smile.

“Pleasure is mine.”

Sasuke hoped Naruto didn’t expect him to get along with his Task Force buddies like he did. The government and all the people who worked under it still rubbed him the wrong way, and it would take a long time before he trusted them. Introductions were fine, but that was as far as Sasuke would go.

The three took their seats and waited as the crowd of people in the lobby slowly began to trickle inside the banquet area; the room gradually grew louder as everyone began to take their seats, and before Sasuke knew it, the event began.

* * *

 

Despite how hard Sasuke had tried not to stand out more than necessary, he found himself nearly the center of attention. One of the main speakers, some sponsor for Konoha’s major radio and television company or something (Sasuke wasn’t paying attention) stepped onto the podium and began to preach about the Uchiha family’s role in the police department. 

Sasuke’s great-grandfather had established the Konoha’s police force when the town was just beginning to grow and diversify, and the role as the lieutenant was passed down until it got to his father. Sasuke had no doubt his father intended for him to take on the role once he was older, but it never got around to that. After his parents died, leadership changed over to someone else and as far as Sasuke knew, it was completely different. His relatives were booted from the squad under conspiracy and Sasuke disappeared alongside his brother. Their family crest still remained on the official uniforms, a small burning reminder of what was, and it was almost mocking to see it on Naruto every day.

Naruto threw him a ‘I didn’t know about this’ look, but Sasuke ignored him. He never said anything because it was trivial. He didn’t want to keep living in the past, but clearly tonight that wouldn’t be much of an option.

 

Sasuke directed his attention away from the curious stares and glances in his direction and focused on cutting the steak on his plate in small, perfect squares. From what he could see, it was cooked perfectly as all the other steaks around the room, but for some reason it didn’t appeal to Sasuke that much. He had a feeling his family used to have extravagant dinners like this, but Sasuke couldn’t remember. He had grown used to eating less exquisite options and learned to enjoy it a lot better when he didn’t have to pick between three forks. 

Of course, a near-rare cut of sirloin beef was a grade or two higher than the cup ramen Sasuke had grown oddly attached to. The planned meal today was also incredibly different from the room service he had always ordered, and Sasuke wondered when was the last time he had a vegetable; lately he and Naruto had been too lazy to cook anything for themselves. 

Sasuke stabbed a piece of broccoli and stared at it, not caring if the people around him were questioning his picky eating behavior.

Perhaps it was time for a lifestyle change? Should they swap out cup ramen for bags of vegetables? No more pizza? Sasuke had already joined Naruto on his morning workout routine, but maybe he should step it up?

“Sasuke,” Naruto lightly nudged him with his elbow, dragging Sasuke out of his mental debate, “they’re starting the toasts.”

With a hint of annoyance, Sasuke mimicked everyone else and held his champagne glass up for the signal.

Sasuke did not want to be here.

He had only come under the assumption that maybe something would happen. If that were the case, he’d be with Naruto and know exactly was going on. He couldn’t care less about the others in this room or what they had to say, and he had successfully blocked out every speech and introduction since the beginning of the dinner. All he had left was the free-range social session after dinner, and then he could go home.

He knew coming here would only draw attention to himself, but he didn’t know it would be the hot topic of the night; everyone acted as though everything had just happened and not over fifteen years ago. The last thing Sasuke wanted to do was relive that moment.

Now that the Uchiha family tragedy had been dug up from the archives and resurfaced for the media, the townspeople drank it up. They loved tragedies because it gave them something to pity, something to compare their own lives to. Sasuke was already sick of being seen as the poor, broken orphan, and he didn’t want his brother to be seen as that either. They were more than that, and those people couldn’t begin to understand what they had been through. 

Sasuke brought the glass to his lips and finished it off in one go. Fundraiser huh? Felt more like a pity party to him; everyone else seemed to be too conceited to realize it.

 

Once the final speech ended, guests were dismissed from their tables after they were done eating and a few workers came out to rearrange the tables near the center of the room, gathering dirty dishes as they went. The party branched out to the outer walls of the banquet room near the drinks and dessert tables, cueing the beginning of the social session. 

“Sasuke, there’s someone I want you to meet.” Naruto gestured for him to follow. They navigated a small crowd before approaching a blonde woman flanked by two guards.

“Tsunade!” Naruto waved to her excitedly, and from what Sasuke could see, the guards visibly relaxed once the younger blonde bounded into their personal space.

“Naruto, you made it.” Tsunade stepped forward and gave him a pat on the shoulder, a look of endearment on her face. Sasuke had never seen the mayor of Konoha express anything other than anger or neutrality on television, but it seemed like the lady had a soft spot for Naruto.

“Sasuke, this is my aunt Tsunade. Also known as the mayor.” Naruto gestured between the two and gave a big smile. “Granny, this is Sasuke, we’re living together!”

Tsunade’s eye twitched at ‘granny’, but she didn’t say anything about it. Instead she eyed Sasuke up and down before smiling.

“I hope he hasn’t been giving you too much trouble.”

“Nothing more than I can handle.” Sasuke put on a friendly tone and mimicked her smile, despite his flight reflexes triggering. As far as Sasuke knew, ninety-percent or more of the people in the room preferred if he was locked in a cell rather than walking around freely and eating their food. He wasn’t going to let his guard down, especially not in front of the mayor.

“Nothing suspicious so far, right?” Naruto asked in a lower tone, mostly to the two guards beside them.

“Nothing to report.” The taller one shook his head. “We’re proceeding as planned.”

“Well I have guests to greet, but I will see you boys around.” Tsunade excused herself with a head nod, her eyes sticking to Sasuke a second longer than normal.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news…” Naruto began, but Sasuke had already planned for it. He held up a hand to cut Naruto off.

“I know, you have to go maintain your connections, blah blah. I’ll meet with you later.

Naruto hardened his gaze and took Sasuke’s hand in his.

“Will you be okay? I promise it won’t take me longer than half an hour.”

Sasuke scoffed. “I’m an adult, I can handle myself.”

“Meet you later.” Faster than Sasuke could process, Naruto leaned in and planted a quick kiss on Sasuke’s cheek before heading to the other side of the room.

Shocked, Sasuke glanced around the room to see if anyone had seen the embarrassing display of affection. Luckily, everyone was getting drinks or roped in conversation elsewhere.

“Fucking idiot…” Sasuke muttered under his breath and slowly made his way out the banquet room, sticking to corners and hallways as he eavesdropped on fellow guests to see how aware they were of the Akatsuki situation.

A couple near the water fountain had barely heard of the Uchiha name aside from the time they heard about the tragedy on television, and another couple thought the Akatsuki were an up-and-coming band. It was infuriating to see how out of the loop people were when they didn’t need to be involved.

Sasuke heard bits and pieces about Akatsuki sightings and a few crimes that took place in their neighborhoods, but there wasn’t anything helpful or surprising. Sasuke figured it would end up as such, but it would’ve been nice to find _something_.

Discouraged, Sasuke returned to the banquet room and began to help himself to a few drinks at the back wall. He figured people-watching wouldn’t be a terrible way to waste time.

 

About three drinks in, an overweight man and a woman who looked half his age approached him at the table with two matching smiles.

“Sasuke Uchiha I presume?” The man lightly lifted his glass in what Sasuke assumed was a greeting. “How are you fairing tonight?”

“I’m doing alright.” Sasuke responded bleakly. He thought he had been making the ‘don’t talk to me’ face for a while now, but it wasn’t having its usual effect here.

“My name is Kengo Yonebashi and this is my wife Keiko.” He gestured to his partner who gave him a shy wave. “I’m the owner of Konoha’s charter bank and we were close friends with your parents.”

Sasuke fought the urge to sigh. Instead, he finished his drink and set it down.

“I thank you for being kind to them when they were around.” Sasuke replied dryly. Just looking at these two people was making him itch for another drink. The greasy man in front of him seemed like nothing but a scumbag, and he highly doubted his parents were associated with him. He also wondered how many buttons he had to undo on his suit to make the man ditch his ‘wife’ and chase after him instead.

“No, no. It was truly tragic what happened to them, really. We were all devastated, and then their two sons taken away? It’s a blessing you are safe, how is your brother doing?”

“He’s getting along.” Sasuke gave them a plastic smile that hurt his face. “We appreciate the concern.” _Now fuck off._

“If you ever need anything, please feel free to reach out. You can consider us as family.” With that, the couple walked off to another section of the desserts, leaving Sasuke fuming at the drink table.

Consider them as family? Were they fucking joking?

Sasuke drowned his anger with two more glasses of champagne before setting out to find Naruto. His thirty minutes were up and Sasuke didn’t know how much longer he could last before nailing someone in the face. Once his eyes locked on the familiar head of blonde hair, Sasuke bee-lined in Naruto’s direction before coming to an abrupt stop in front of him.

Naruto’s laughter was loud enough to fill the banquet room, and he seemed to be in an animated conversation with a girl around the same age. Her pink hair stood in contrast with her fair skin, and her shocking green eyes were tearing up from laughing so hard. What really held Sasuke’s attention was the way her arm hooked around Naruto’s, sidling up to his side as they laughed.

Sasuke envisioned three different scenarios of ripping this girl’s hands off Naruto, and none of them ended civilly. Who flirted in such an obvious way like that anymore? It was classless.

Sasuke cleared his throat and directed his glare at Naruto.

  
“You seem to be having a great time.” 

Naruto wiped a tear from his eye and the girl finally noticed Sasuke’s presence. Her eyes widened in surprise and she had the nerve to blush when their eyes met.

Sasuke focused on putting all his annoyance in one look and gave it to her.

Naruto, on the other hand, didn’t notice and bounced closer to Sasuke with the girl in tow.

  
“Sasuke, perfect timing! This is Sakura, she was on the same team as me when I was still on the Task Force! She kills me with the crazy experiences she’s had on the job! I mean, I’ve had my few, but-” 

“Yeah, yeah that’s great and all, but when were you coming back to me?” Sasuke inquired with a brow, and he purposefully avoided Sakura’s curious stare.

“Just now! It’s like you read my mind or something! See, Sakura? He’s like the neediest boyfriend I’ve ever had!”

Sasuke frowned.

He was not needy. He just wanted attention every now and then like any other person. And who was Naruto to call him needy? The guy couldn’t even clean up after himself!

And did he say neediest? As in there were boyfriends _before_ him that were needy? How many people did this guy juggle before they met?

Sakura must have sensed the murderous energy that began to emanate around Sasuke, and she slowly slipped out of Naruto’s grip to stand a reasonable distance to the side.

“It just shows how close you two are! You never told me you were dating him!”

Naruto, still oblivious to Sasuke’s mood, wrapped an arm around him and smiled.

“Yup he’s my sweetheart! I’d kill for him!”

“You’re drunk.” Sasuke pointed out the obvious before crossing his arms.

“A little, but I’m still functional. Hey Kiba! Come meet my boyfriend!” Naruto shouted the last half of his sentence, attracting a good portion of the room’s attention.

“Naruto!” Sasuke hissed.

“You’re dating? Shit man, congrats!” Sasuke recognized Kiba from his scruffy hair and dog-like mannerisms that had put him on edge when they met at the Akatsuki hideout. He remembered Kiba was Naruto’s partner on the Task Force, and the two had seemed pretty close back then. Shikamaru and Kakashi joined them in curiosity, only to see Naruto pull Sasuke in a tight hug.

“I’m just so happy he came with me tonight, it’s like our first date all over again!” Naruto nuzzled in Sasuke’s hair and sighed in content.

Sasuke had reached his limit and was on the brink of self-destructing.

Naruto’s words were flattering, and they would have been positively received had they _not_ been standing in front of a crowd of people at a high-ranking banquet. Had Naruto not been drunk and trying to kiss him in front of strangers.

“ _Cut…it….out…_ ” Sasuke gritted out without breaking his smile, forcing Naruto’s face away with his hands. “ _Let’s go home?_ ”

“Okay!” After successfully planting a kiss on Sasuke’s head, he allowed himself to be dragged away. They cast their final goodbyes and Sasuke focused on getting them the hell out of here. He rarely saw Naruto get drunk, and he couldn’t be more grateful. Naruto was just too fucking friendly when he got blasted.

“TSUNADE!” Naruto roared, and Sasuke froze in horror. This time, the entire room turned to look at them. Probably because no one called the mayor by her first name and lived.

“I LOVE YOUUU!” Naruto blew her kisses until Sasuke nearly side tackled him out the room. Sasuke had enough time to see the mixture of endearment and horror on Tsunade’s face before they left the room.

“Shut up Naruto!” Sasuke pushed him towards the lobby angrily. “How much did you fucking drink?!”

Naruto tilted his head back and laughed.

“I dunno, like eight.”

“Eight what?”

“Drinks, what else?” Naruto shrugged. He bumped into the door before realizing he had to push it to open, and Sasuke was on the verge of throttling him.

“Functional my ass.” Sasuke held Naruto in place as he called for a taxi.

“I love you, Sauce.”

“Yeah, I know.” Sasuke ended the call and slid his phone back into his pocket. “Let’s just get home, okay?”

“Do you love me?” Naruto seemed to be searching for a serious answer, and it reminded Sasuke of puppy-dog eyes. He wanted to look away, but he was scared he’d hurt Naruto’s feelings if he did so.

“Yeah, I do.”

“Why don’t you ever say it?”

Sasuke blinked back at him.

He wanted to say it all the time, but it wasn’t that easy to him. He couldn’t just blurt it out like Naruto, and he didn’t know why. Perhaps his ‘love’ was too heavy of a word to throw around. Maybe Sasuke just wasn’t ready to use it yet.

“I will. I just…I need time.” Sasuke lowered his head as the cab pulled up.

“That’s okay!” Naruto grabbed his hand and pulled him to the car with new energy he didn’t have a few seconds ago.

Sasuke let himself be pushed into the backseat again with Naruto and tried to gather himself. Being with Naruto tonight felt like getting whiplash. He didn’t know what was happening or what he was feeling anymore.

 

He stole a look as they drove home, which proved to be a mistake. Naruto had his eyes on him, those deep ocean blue eyes that seemed to strip Sasuke bare until there was nothing left for him to hide. Naruto’s cheeks were a fair pink, giving away how drunk he was, and his hair had managed to tousle itself back to its usual state.

Sasuke sucked in a breath when Naruto’s hand made itself at home on the inside of his thigh, his touch completely different than how it was earlier in the night. He ran his thumb up towards Sasuke’s groin, almost coaxing a moan out of him.

_Please drive faster_. Sasuke closed his eyes and prayed. His self-control wouldn’t hold out much longer if Naruto didn’t stop. 

As soon as the car pulled to the curb Sasuke handed over cash (not even caring if it was the right amount or not) and dragged Naruto into the lobby, up the stairs, and to the front door.

By the time they had opened the door, the two were already in a heated exchange; Sasuke kicked the door shut behind them and slowly pushed Naruto into the living room, all the while without breaking the kiss. Naruto humored him, allowing himself to be guided backwards until he finally fell back onto the couch. Sasuke wasted no time straddling him, and swirled his tongue against Naruto’s as they made out for a few minutes. He could taste the whiskey sours Naruto had been putting down all night, and honestly Sasuke didn’t mind.

Sasuke fumbled with Naruto’s dress shirt, but quickly gave up and opted to rip it open instead, sending buttons flying across the couch and carpet without remorse. He quickly went for Naruto’s neck, which was now exposed for his taking, and kissed along the side before working on an impressive hickey below Naruto’s jawline.

While Sasuke busied himself with that, Naruto worked on unfastening the belt and buttons on Sasuke’s pants, grunting to himself as he quickly pulled them down with his underwear and found a slight hindrance.

“Pants. Off.” Naruto commanded impatiently.

Sasuke abandoned his work of art early and complied, sliding off Naruto’s lap to kick off his pants and shrug out of his shirt. He tossed it somewhere to the right of the room, not caring where the hell it landed, and helped Naruto get out of his pants.

Before climbing back on, Sasuke reached into a drawer beside the couch and retrieved a bottle with a smug grin. He situated himself back on Naruto’s lap and squeezed a hefty amount into his palm.

“When did you—How long have we been keeping lube out in the open like this?” Naruto looked mortified as he realized what the bottle in Sasuke’s hand was.

“It wasn’t out in the open. It was in a drawer.” Sasuke replied simply before he reached around and slid two fingers in himself, working impatiently to fit in his third.

Naruto watched Sasuke work in a trance, his hands lightly massaging Sasuke’s thighs, occasionally brushing against the inside to watch Sasuke’s dick grow in arousal. Sasuke bit his lip and shuddered as heat continued to pool in the base of his stomach; he didn’t want to wait a minute longer.

Sasuke took out his fingers and quickly lubed Naruto up before repositioning himself over him. Slowly, Sasuke lowered himself down with a groan, allowing Naruto to help guide him until he was fully seated on his hips. As Sasuke adjusted, Naruto planted a few kisses on Sasuke’s chest and lightly rocked him back and forth with a few moans of his own.

Once he was ready, Sasuke gripped the armrest and the spine of the couch for leverage, putting all his focus into riding Naruto until they couldn’t move anymore. Whenever Naruto tried to move on his own, Sasuke clenched hard and forced him down again, indulging the way Naruto would throw his head back and groan when he couldn’t get his way. Sasuke moved until he was shaking, his muscles nearly giving out on him as he rocked forward, and he dropped his grip to Naruto’s shoulders to give up control. Sasuke panted against Naruto’s neck as the heat in his stomach coiled tighter, leaving him almost desperate for release. Naruto barely got a few thrusts of his own in before Sasuke came with a loud cry and tightened around him, forcing Naruto’s climax out of him.

Before Sasuke could catch his breath, Naruto flipped him onto his back on the couch and briefly pulled out to reposition himself between Sasuke’s legs. He looked up at Naruto in mild confusion, still thrown off from his orgasm, and gasped when Naruto thrust back in deep.

“One more round?” Naruto asked as he lowered himself to kiss Sasuke. Without waiting for an answer, he started to give Sasuke quick, shallow thrusts while jerking him off with a firm hand.

“Wai—” Sasuke felt his body jerk in response and whimpered as heat started flooding his system again. He ignored the rough fabric of the couch against his naked skin and held on tight as Naruto lifted his hips for a better angle, pounding into him in a way that left Sasuke seeing stars. The apartment became filled with the sounds of skin slapping skin, groans, and heavy breathing, which was how Sasuke liked it the most, but he could hardly hear it over his own heartbeat.

“Naruto, if you keep doing that—” Sasuke squirmed as he felt his climax coming quick. Naruto ignored him, moaning beside Sasuke’s ear as he picked up the pace. With an embarrassingly loud moan, Sasuke came again when Naruto hit his prostate, and he felt something warm spill inside of him. After a few seconds of exhausted silence, Sasuke felt panic begin to stir in his stomach.

“You went raw?” Sasuke thought aloud, his voice quiet and strained. They never did it without a condom, and Sasuke was shocked he had completely overlooked it until now.

“Mm. Yeah, I guess I did, is that bad?” Naruto slightly rolled to the side, forcing Sasuke nearly off the edge of the couch.

“Yes it’s bad!” If he weren’t as exhausted as he were, Sasuke would have been in full panic mode. He would be internally lecturing himself for being so careless.

“I didn’t even think about it…sorry I came inside you.” Naruto slurred his words and planted a small kiss on the back of Sasuke’s neck. “We’re both clean and I love you, so I didn’t even think…”

Sasuke shut his eyes, replaying Naruto’s words in his head.

“You’re an idiot.”

“Mm yeah probably.” Naruto murmured back. He sounded like he was on the brink of sleep.

As much as Sasuke preferred not to sleep on the couch, he found himself drifting off with Naruto’s arm around him, and a strange feeling of calm replaced his nerves that allowed him to finally fall asleep.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Sasuke woke up the next morning naked and confused. 

He sat up and groaned when his body protested and the sunlight directly ambushed his retinas, which didn’t make sense because their bed wasn’t right next to the window.

Sasuke blinked and looked around, realizing he wasn’t in their bed, but actually on the floor. On the couch beside him, Naruto snored loudly, his entire body taking up the space. Sasuke could assume that he knocked him off at some point during the night and either Sasuke didn’t wake up, or figured it wasn’t worth moving.

How much did they drink last night?

Sasuke slowly climbed to his feet and navigated the living room, kicking aside clothes and an empty lube bottle as he attempted to get to the bathroom. He pressed a hand to his temple and pushed the bathroom door open, hoping maybe throwing up would make him feel better.

After twenty minutes of staring into the toilet contemplating his life decisions, Sasuke gave up on his original plan and hopped into the shower. He focused on scrubbing every inch of his body until he felt presentable again and leaned against the wall when his head started spinning.

He didn’t think he drank that much last night. In fact, he felt fully functional when they left the banquet; he successfully got Naruto home safe and sound without any issues.

Sasuke vaguely remembered his own words last night.

“Functional, my ass…” Sasuke lowered his head and groaned again, hoping the hot water would wash away his regrets.

 

 

After finishing his shower, and throwing up in said shower, Sasuke got dressed and grabbed his cell phone before pausing near the front door. Naruto remained as Sasuke had left him, naked and snoring on their couch (this wasn’t the first time), and Sasuke planned on leaving him that way. He didn’t plan on being gone too long anyway.

Sasuke locked the door behind him and descended into the lobby. He gave the guard a hard look before caving in.

“I’ll be at the café on 13th.” He muttered before stepping outside. He didn’t bother looking back to see the guard’s reaction, and made his way towards the quaint little café that stood only a few blocks away from their apartment. Sasuke examined the brick exterior and then the menu sign on the sidewalk as he debated whether he truly wanted to go inside or not. This was going to be a meeting he preferred not to have.

Sasuke took a deep breath and entered the café. He faintly heard the bell on the door jingle above him as he shut the door.

“Welcome!” A young girl piped from the counter. When she took in Sasuke’s appearance her face blushed a deep red. “A-Anything I can get for you?”

Sasuke slowly approached the counter and bent down to look at the pastries inside. He wasn't in the mood for anything sweet, but he knew he had to put something in his stomach.

“I’ll take a bagel and a coffee. Black.” Sasuke straightened up and handed her a ten-dollar bill. He humored her and pretended not to see the obvious blush on her face, instead he examined the specials written on the walls in blue and yellow chalk.

“Here’s your change! For here or to go?”

“For here. I’ll be sitting over by the windows.” Sasuke took his change and made his way towards the back where, sure enough, a familiar long-haired figure sat alone at a table staring out the window with a pensive expression.

“It’s a bit early for daydreaming, don’t you think?” Sasuke dropped into the chair across from him and yawned.

Two onyx eyes so similar to his own flicked back to him, and he was greeted with a smile.

“Not at all Sasuke. You can dream at any time.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “I’m too hungover to have any philosophical conversations with you Itachi. What did you want to talk about?”

Itachi kept his smile and stirred his coffee with his free hand. The light, creamer-filled substance already made Sasuke’s head hurt just looking at it.

“I’m assuming you had fun at the banquet last night?”

“Not really.” Sasuke huffed.

The young girl breezed by to drop off Sasuke’s coffee and bagel. She gave the brothers a quick smile before retreating to the counter again.

“What about Naruto?”

“He got drunk and embarrassed me, as usual.” Sasuke shook his head and took a sip of his coffee. He stared down at it in surprise. It was better than he thought it would be.

“Naruto is certainly a special one.” Itachi mused as he picked at his muffin in front of him. “Ever since you two started living together, you’ve seemed happier Sasuke.”

“Oh?” Sasuke tore his bagel in half and contemplated whether he could stomach any of it. “I guess, but I didn’t come here to talk about Naruto.”

“I suppose not.” Itachi sighed.

Sasuke frowned. He didn’t know why his brother was trying so hard to be friendly with him now that the Akatsuki situation had blown over. It was as if he thought they could suddenly start over and be brothers again, like nothing ever happened between them.

It wasn’t going to happen. Sasuke could admit that he no longer hated his brother; he had considered their circumstances and everything that had led up to now and came to that conclusion on his own, but it wasn’t going to be like how it was. It couldn’t.

He knew Itachi and Naruto had some strange sort of friendship going on, and Sasuke didn’t care for it. The two probably gossiped like old women about him, but he didn’t want to be part of it.

 

“Why didn’t you come to the banquet last night?”

Itachi took a sip of his coffee, set it down, and began to open another sugar packet. Sasuke watched in mild disgust.

“I had things to take care of.”

“I’m assuming you’ve found something about the case?”

“Not exactly, but I did come across something interesting.” Itachi slid a card across the table with a rueful expression.

Sasuke picked it up and flipped it over, examining the front.

“What is this?”

“A debit card.” Itachi shrugged.

“In my name?”

“Connected to a family account.” Itachi leaned forward. “Sasuke. The family inheritance is still there.”

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and flipped the card over again as if he were mistaken.

“That’s not possible. The Akatsuki killed our parents _for_ that money. How is it still there?”

“That’s what I was trying to find out. Essentially, the bank account was locked under our names and couldn’t be accessed by anyone else.” Itachi took another sip of his coffee and appeared satisfied.

“So why didn’t they just make us take it out the bank when we were old enough?”

“It’s not that simple. Think about it, the Uchiha massacre was known nation-wide and we were abducted from our home, that was the Akatsuki’s fatal mistake. If we suddenly appeared trying to take money out of the family account, wouldn’t that send out a red flare to anyone looking for us?”

Sasuke leaned back in his chair and tapped the card against his nose. He had a fair point, but it still wasn’t adding up.

“Then why did they keep us? They must’ve had some other plan to get this money.”

Itachi nodded. “It’s even possible that it was never about the money.”

The two shared a look and fell silent as they thought.

“How much is in the account?” Sasuke asked.

“Thirty-four million, not including real estate.”

Sasuke massaged his temples. He was starting to feel sick again. “Why didn’t dad say anything about Obito?”

“Why would he? He would never acknowledge an illegitimate child…a mistake in his book.”

“Scum.” Sasuke shook his head. “It’s an embarrassment. Look where it got him.”

“Sasuke.” Itachi warned. “It’s our mess now, we don’t know what he’s capable of.”

“He’s not stronger than you.”

Itachi made a sour face and looked out the window. “I’m not so sure about that.”

Sasuke stared at Itachi in disbelief. If Itachi couldn’t be their trump card, what the hell were they supposed to do?

“Listen Sasuke, I need you and Naruto to keep laying low a little longer. I’ll try to figure out what’s going on, but I have a feeling someone is going to make a move soon. It’s been a bit quiet, don’t you think?”

Sasuke nodded. The longer the quiet, the worse the act was going to be.

“I think we can conclude for today, thank you for meeting with me.”

“It’s not a big deal.” Sasuke shrugged before finishing his coffee.

“Sasuke, I just want you to know that no matter what happens, I love you and I’m here for you.” Itachi met Sasuke’s shocked gaze and held it before breaking away. “I’m tired of losing the things most precious to me.”

Unsure of how to respond, Sasuke nodded and stood up. “I am too.” With that, he bid his brother goodbye and stepped out of the café. A slight drizzle had begun to fall over the town and Sasuke debated whether he should go straight home or not.

 

He settled on stopping by the local grocery store and wandered among the produce, picking up random fruits and vegetables as his mind tried to catch up with his conversation with Itachi. They were missing something to the equation, and it felt vital, but it was also so far from reach. Sasuke caught himself staring at an apple for longer than necessary and tossed it into his basket before moving on. As he moved down the aisles, he slowed when the unshakeable feeling of being watched came over him. He whipped around and found no one else there.

As he continued to move around the store, the feeling followed him despite the lack of people in the store. Sasuke looked up at the security cameras and frowned, knowing there was nothing out of the ordinary. What was this feeling? Why couldn’t he shake it?

Sasuke made his last round and caved, tossing a handful of cup ramen into his basket before heading straight to the check-out counters as paranoia started to kick in.

Someone was watching him, but who? How?

He checked over his shoulder again. A mother and child passed by. An older lady smiled pleasantly at him.

 

“Sir, is everything alright?” the cashier’s question snapped Sasuke back to reality and he realized he was sweating. 

“Yeah, sorry.” He swiped his card, took his receipt, and gathered his bags quickly before heading for the door. His eyes scanned every possible area before he froze next to the door. A tall man in black passed by the window before turning the corner out of sight. To any passerby he would have looked suspicious, but he was also capable of not drawing attention. The only thing Sasuke saw was the mask. That damned mask.

Sasuke pushed out of the store and ran to the corner, his heartbeat pounding in his ears louder than sound of traffic around him. There was no way. Impossible.

Obito was here?

As soon as Sasuke reached the corner, he found himself staring down an empty street. No people. No cars to hide behind. Nothing.

Sasuke whipped around to see the world carrying on as usual. He adjusted the weight of the groceries in his arms before heading home at full speed. He kept his head down and weaved through the morning traffic until he reached their apartment lobby.

Was he going crazy? Is that what this was?

His conversation with Itachi was making him paranoid. That had to be it. There was no way Obito would be here in Konoha, hiding in plain sight…right?

Sasuke couldn’t take a full breath until he closed the front door of their apartment. He leaned back against it as he forced his heart rate to slow down and stabilize before he had a panic attack.

“You’re finally home!” Naruto popped his head around the corner with his usual welcoming smile. “Oh and you bought groceries!”

Sasuke remained silent as Naruto took the groceries out his hands. Naruto didn’t ask why Sasuke seemed to be catching his breath, and he was thankful for it.

Naruto took the groceries into the kitchen and Sasuke heard him start rummaging through the bag.

“Fuck yeah, ramen for days! Also, what’s up with all these random fruits and vegetables? Were you thinking of a particular recipe, or…?”

“Nothing in particular.” Sasuke closed his eyes and took a much-needed deep breath.

“Cool.” The refrigerator opened and closed. Sasuke opened his eyes in time to see Naruto drop onto the couch. “How was Itachi?”

Of course he knew about it.

Naruto took in Sasuke’s mixed expression and waved his phone in the air.

“Itachi and I text _a lot_. Let me tell you, he was so nervous about meeting you today I almost thought he was going on his first date!”

“He doesn’t seem like the texting type.” Sasuke muttered. He joined Naruto on the couch and dropped his head on Naruto’s shoulder, immediately earning a full cuddle from him.

“You won’t believe it, but he uses a lot of emojis.” Naruto chuckled, and Sasuke listened to the way it rumbled in his chest. Today had worn him out beyond belief and it wasn’t even noon yet. He wanted a nap.

“Nn.” Sasuke hummed in affirmation. Naruto kissed him on the forehead.

“Sleepy?”

“Nn.” Sasuke rummaged through his pocket and handed Naruto the debit card from earlier.

“What is this?” Naruto asked. “A bank card? Where’d you get this?”

“We’re millionaires now.” Sasuke mumbled, nearly falling asleep.

“ _Wait what_?”

As Sasuke opened his mouth to explain, Naruto’s phone began to ring. Naruto groaned before answering it, his eyes reading the card in his other hand.

“Kakashi, what’s up? Huh? Yeah?” Naruto’s eyes landed on Sasuke.

Sasuke watched Naruto’s expression change as he listened. The usual crystal clear blue grew cloudy and dark, and by the time he hung up all possible humor had left his eyes.

“Gear up Sasuke, we have to go.”

Sasuke sat up and rubbed his eyes. “What’s going on?”

 

“It’s the Akatsuki. They’re moving again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo chapter 2 is done! I went on an editing spree and did 3 chapters in…6 days I think? Anyways it’s mainly because school is starting up for us again and we wanted to give you guys a few treats before we go back to our infrequent schedule of writing/editing/posting chapters. Please let us know what you think of this sequel! So many of you kept asking us about one, and hey, we love to please :)
> 
> ^^^  
> *cringes because this chapter's been sitting in my file ready to be edited for soooo long*  
> I apologize, school has really been kickin' my ass lately, but I haven't forgotten about y'all! I'd say this one is about half-finished, but who knows I'm so unpredictable these days! Sorry for the wait and thank you for your patience! You can roast me in the comments if you like, honestly I live for dialogue

**Author's Note:**

> Dirty Money is baaaaack! Also I don’t know about you guys, but damn I definitely got feels from this chapter and some of Sasuke’s epiphanies are too real. I hope it was worth the wait, stay tuned for more angsty shenanigans!
> 
> ^^^  
> Hey everyone!! We are alive and thriving! Welcome to Part 2 of Dirty Money, I hope you missed us!  
> Sorry it took me FOREVER to update this...I spent a lot of time stressing about how I wanted the last half of this story to go. As usual, angst galore and you get to see into the inner workings of Sasuke's mind. If I had to estimate, I'd say this chapter takes place a good three or four months after the last chapter of Dirty Money! ANYWAY stay tuned for the next few chapters and if you haven't checked it out yet we're also doing a NaruSasu Camping Fic which will be amazing, probably. THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT! Leaves us your comments because we love to hear back from y'all!


End file.
